Centuries
by icelandicc
Summary: "They say, every world is connected by one, great big sky…" [a drabble collection]
1. Mamihlapinatapai

Roxas wasn't feeling well, that much was obvious. The way he was slouching and talking much quieter than usual; it wasn't Roxas-like at all. The kid was a ball of energy, always eager to get out of the castle, but this morning he hardly sounded excited when Saix issued him his missions for the day.

"What's up Rox? You look awful." Axel ruffled Roxas' hair, a look of concern evident on his face.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence…" Roxas murmured, smiling softly. "My head hurts…"

"Did you tell Vexen? You know he kind of plays the part of the school nurse around here." Roxas raised an eyebrow.

"Vexen? You can't be serious." Axel laughed.

"Yep. He isn't the most sympathetic nurse in the world, but hey, what can you do?" Roxas started laughing, which quickly escalated into a violent coughing fit. Axel grabbed up the blond in his arms before he collapsed to the ground, and promptly set off towards Vexen's lab.

"H-hey! I'm fine Axel." Roxas pushed on Axel's arms weakly, eyes half open.

"No, you're not. We're going to Vexen's." Axel's voice was more firm than it usually was. Roxas blinked, but nodded and went silent, falling back into Axel's arms.


	2. Starry Skies

"How can you just forgive me like that? I took advantage of you; aren't you angry at me?" This wasn't the first time Neku'd taken advantage of someone, but this _was _the first time someone had forgiven him so easily, without any effort at all. He didn't understand Sora…

"We're friends, right Neku? Friends forgive each other, even when they make mistakes. I can tell you're not a bad person, you just need to learn to trust people." Sora smiled like everything was alright. And somehow, that made Neku believe it would be.

"I really don't get you Sora…" Neku shook his head in disbelief, before turning his gaze to the sky. "How can you be so happy all the time, even when there's so many horrible things going on around you?" Neku kept his eyes on the sky. Sora looked up too.

"Because I know, that if I try hard enough, I can fix them. I don't feel sad because I can help those people who are hurting. And that's enough for me." Sora held his hand to his heart. And Neku, for the first time in a long time, genuinely smiled.


	3. Familiar

Seeing that boy, the boy that looked _exactly like him,_ sitting there frozen in eternal sleep upon a throne of solid marble, it was like waking up one day to find you're in someone else's house. It was shocking, and it made you anxious, and it made Roxas feel somewhat less significant. He was Sora, and now he was this boy too. Nothing he had seemed to belong to him anymore.

Sora had said that he deserved to be his own person, but how could he knowing that he was just a copy of someone else?

"Roxas…" Sora seemed to have noticed his discomfort. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing… Just, this kid… he-"

"Looks a lot like you? Yeah. But I'll bet you anything you two are polar opposites."

"Like Beat." Riku cut in, making his way to where the two were conversing. "He looks all tough, but really, he's just a big softie." Riku chuckled. Roxas smiled. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all...


	4. Ingrained

"Ugh, what a drag. I'd rather be doing something worthwhile then looking at all this old stuff." Lea scuffed at the ground with his shoes irritably, not paying any attention to the reconstructed skeletons and centaury old pottery showcased around him. Isa, on the other hand, was carefully examining rather long sword displayed on the wall. It was dusty and hidden away in the corner.

"What's that?" Lea asked, idly walking towards him.

"A claymore… it says here that the berserkers from the Badlands that invaded Radiant Garden thirty years ago used these swords…" Lea _did _note that the sword was chipped in places. It was rusty and looked fragile, like it would break if someone tried to use it today.

"Huh. Doesn't look like much to me. Just a plain old sword."

"Yeah…" Isa looked enthralled; his eyes wouldn't leave the long blade. Lea tugged his sleeve.

"Come ooonnnn! I'm so bored I can't think straight!" Isa took one last look at the sword, before following Lea.


	5. Lightmares

_A/N: I think this might take place during the end of CoM and the beginning of KHII? I'm not really sure... I just wrote whatever came to mind. I guess that is what drabbles are for ne? But I digress. Enjoy?_

* * *

_Was he finally alive?_

Daylight crept up on him, surrounding him, shielding him. He thought he would be safe forever.

It didn't last.

A man came. Found him. Found his shield. Broke it.

Now he was lost. He wasn't safe anymore. After hiding behind that light for so long, the darkness seemed so deep, so eternal.

He spent what felt like forever slumbering in that darkness. So long… was he even alive anymore? Perhaps not. Maybe this was what lay beyond death. Blackness, darkness, nothing, nothing, nothing at all for miles and endless miles. It was a void where all emotions fled, where bodies were shed, where hearts dissolved to nothing but emptiness.

Were there people waiting for him? People… what were people? Something different then the blackness? His mind was blank… people… memories… there was nothing. Maybe… he had never even existed in the first place… Lost… it was so cold. So cold…

Finally, he stood. In the blackness nothing could be seen. Nothing could be felt. Nothing. He walked and walked and found nothing. More and more nothingness. Would it never end? End… had it ever even begun?

Light.

Bold, blinding light.

At last…

He welcomed it, he opened his arms and embraced it and laughed and cried because it had been so long, far far too long, since he had felt _light._

There was another… another light. A light that brought him strength. A light that completed him. A light that gave him existence.

_"__I… missed you."_


	6. To Cage a Songbird

Cold white walls. Crisp white paper. A radiant girl decked all in white.

_Scritch scritch._

A soothing sound of blank paper being filled. Shadows of memories that weren't her own. The girl sighed deeply. She set her yellow crayon down on the table in front of her, looking lifelessly down at the scribble before her. A small girl in a white dress. Behind her was a man with brown-pink hair, smirking cruelly; his hands reaching toward the girl in a beckoning way. The girl's eyes were wide, despite her back being towards the man.

The artist in the white room was smiling. Tears stung at her eyes, dripping soundlessly to the table top, leaving no trace. Her tears quickly escalated to loud cries, sounding small in the expansive, echoless room. The girl looked lost, absolutely without hope. The blinding white around her lured her into a false sense of security, wrapping her up in its lightness, whispering sweet, persuasive things in her ears.

The girl's sobbing persisted.

_How could I let it go so far?_


	7. Take a break, Squall!

"Nothin' wrong with wantin' a break once'in awhile kid." Cid remarked from his seat at Merlin's table, examining a rock-hard biscuit skeptically.

Leon sighed and ran a hand through his sticky hair. Summers in Radiant Garden were horribly hot. Yuffie nibbled a biscuit, flopping back in the over-sized armchair Merlin never used.

"Cid's right you know. You deserve it, Squall. You've been working harder than anyone recently. If you don't take a vacation soon, you'll explode from all the pressure!" Yuffie made extravagant hand motions, imitating Leon's upcoming combustion. Aerith laughed. Leon was not amused.

Cid chuckled at the girls, and turned his attention back towards Leon, who had begun pacing.

"Look at'cha. You're hair'll be turnin' white if you keep this up. You're still a kid, so you'd best start acting like 'et." Cid whipped out a piece of paper and handed it to Leon, who'd stopped pacing momentarily to listen. He took it expressionlessly.

"A coupon… for free ice cream?"

"I got it from them triplets, back in Traverse Town. Never expires, so I thought I'd keep it 'till the time I knew it would do the most good." Cid explained, going back to prodding at this biscuit, wondering how Yuffie managed to bite into it.

Leon let out a breathy laugh, but slipped the coupon into his pocket. Aerith smiled knowingly.


	8. Driving Force

He was gonna do it. He was finally, after all these months of trying, going to beat stupid Riku at the stupid race.

"On your marks!" Kairi shouted.

Sora charted a route in his mind.

"Get set!"

Riku brushed a stray strand of silver hair behind his ear.

"GO!"

The two shot off like island birds after seeing someone messing around with their eggs. Both Sora and Riku knew the way like the back of their hand; one of the boards was loose on the bridge (it fell every time, but they kept securing it back onto the bridge anyway), the zip line sometimes malfunctioned (but the sand underneath was soft), there was a hollow directly beneath the zip line where mushrooms grew (but only if you kept the boulder in front of the entrance).

Riku took his typical route: across the bridge, climbing the ladder to the zip line and taking it down to the sandy hill that lead to the fake Paopu fruit that acted as the finish line. Sora was close behind. Having missed the zip line, he made his way across the trees, careful but quick.

Riku tapped the Paopu, grinning triumphantly as it lit up, and began hopping back across the trees. Sora poked the Paopu as well, turning around in such a hurry that he nearly fell off one of the trees on the way back. Riku finally made it to the bridge, slowing his pace to a taunting strut, like a proud peacock.

Sora bit his lip as he saw Riku slow down. He did the same thing every time they raced, and Sora tried every time to make those precious few seconds count, and every time, he would fail.

But not today. _Today_, Sora reminded himself, _they were going to finish their raft. Today they were going to chase their childish fantasies into the great blue somewhere._

_Today, he couldn't lose._

Sora passed Riku, and leapt the last foot of space to the platform Kairi waited on, as though he were making the first ventures into new lands. He stood panting for a moment, tired, and disbelieving.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw Riku on the bridge behind him, offering a half smile.

"Good work, Sora."


End file.
